Scholarship 2018

This year Copeman Healthcare was excited to create a new post-secondary scholarship for two worthy students in British Columbia and Alberta.

We didn’t know what to expect in year one but were pleasantly surprised by both the quantity and quality of great applications across both provinces. 148 students wrote essays on how they hope to impact preventative healthcare in their careers. Though only five students were shortlisted in each province, we are confident that many of our applicants will go on to make a difference in preventative healthcare as they enter the workforce.

Common Essay Themes

It was clear students researched Copeman Healthcare and our values, and want to be coaches, motivators and educators to drive the best patient outcomes. They addressed the importance of personalized care and taking the time to get to know their patients. They discussed wanting to look for and recommend healthy lifestyle changes that will suit their patients preferences. They showed examples of how evidence-based medicine takes into account their clinical expertise and combines it with the best external evidence, and patient values and expectations.

Copeman’s multi-disciplinary approach came up frequently as well. The students saw value in collaborative care and having a team of experts working together to provide advice and alternative solutions. When it came to prevention, the top students went beyond the basics. Instead of offering traditional ideas or one-size-fits-all solutions, they detailed a multi-faceted approach to deal with multiple symptoms and issues. They wanted to tackle problems as far upstream as they could and reiterated what Copeman believes to be true, that prevention and early detection is the best way to stop disease from taking hold.

Touching personal accounts were also shared describing how students got involved in healthcare. From their own illness, to that of family members, it became clear that this was a passionate bunch who would one day lead and educate with empathy. Some students showed how they are engaged in their community, and wrote about how they could address preventative care in a specific segment of society. Others volunteered abroad and learned how countries with different healthcare systems worked. Students want to use insights from strengths and weaknesses around the world to help improve the infrastructure in Canada.

The most prevalent theme across the essays was mental health. Students are aware of its prevalence and severity and they reflected on how to further reduce the stigma and provide the support their patients need. Mental health is a complex issue with tentacles in every area of care, from the doctors and nurses, to kinesiologists and psychologists, students all agreed this was a top priority.

2018 Winners

Our winners thought outside the box, wrote creatively, and offered tangible solutions to preventative healthcare. They didn’t simply define the issues, but discussed what steps they were taking in their program and how they could be carried forward into their careers.

Please come back to our resource pages over the coming weeks to see the essays from our shortlist. We will begin with our two winners, Tribesty Nguyen from UBC and Samantha Hann from Red Deer College. Congratulations to our inaugural top ten, and to everyone who put effort into their writing. Below student names are in alphabetical order, followed by school, program, and intended year of graduation

We wish you all the best of luck in your education and future careers!